Waking up this morning I was ecstatic because my day was going to include surfing lessons. My cousin surfed when he lived in Florida, so I somewhat tried to learn when I was younger. However, I never managed to come anywhere close to standing. Today, I was determined, was going to be different. We loaded into our van and made our way to the beach where we were greeted by our instructors. We were given a mini lesson on the proper form then grabbed our boards and walked to the beach.
I was the first one to try. Not realizing I was actually supposed to stand up, I fell off my board immediately after the wave hit me. However, on my second try I managed to get to my feet quickly and ride the wave for a few seconds. I did this a few times before feeling motion sick from the rough waves. I took a little break but was back out on the water within ten or fifteen minutes. We rode a few more waves and finished our lesson after about another hour.
After leaving the beach, we returned to the hotel where we were given some idle time to shower and prepare for the remainder of the day. After dressing and packing my bag, I decided to use this time to do some classwork. I worked on my blog and researched some ideas for my project. We then proceeded to Veronica's Place for lunch. It was absolutely delicious. We then interviewed a couple of people involved in interracial relationships. The relationships included Afro-Caribbean and Cuban, Afro-Caribbean and Ecuadorian, and Afro-Caribbean and German. They allowed us to ask any questions about their culture and relationships basically giving us an open floor.
After interviewing for two hours, we were given a two hour break to do as we pleased. For the first thirty minutes I shopped a little. Because shopping makes me so tired, I decided to rest for the remainder of our time. Shannel and I went to the beach for a bit and relaxed while watching people and nature. Meeting back up with our group, we walked down to Junior's house for a cooking lesson. We watched as he, along with his wife and two friends, prepared our meal right before our eyes in his outdoor kitchen. It was some of the best food I have ever had and the plantains were to die for. It was so neat to see so many people cooking at once and communicating nonverbally all while staying so organized.
As we left, Junior told us good bye and asked us to remember that "life is a wonderful thing." Hearing this I realized how wonderful it truly is and how much some of us take it for granted. The people we have met in Puerto Viejo are so relaxed. They go with the flow and do enough just to get by while enjoying all of the little things life has to offer. Seeing people happy with the bare necessities made me realize that life is a gift I need to take time to enjoy more often.
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